Astronomy |
October 3, 2015
Charon in Enhanced Color NASA’s New Horizons captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. Credit: NASA

More detailed images of the dwarf planet Ceres surface have now been published and also images of Pluto’s largest moon Charon.

The latest color-coded topographic map of Ceres released by NASA gives us a closer look at the white spots on its surface. Credit: NASA

Ceres is a dwarf planet residing between Jupiter and Mars, and the images were taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft which arrived there this spring after an eight-year journey.

This composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), was taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015. Credit: NASA

The images have been discussed during a planetary conference in France. They reveal a landscape of mountains and craters. But the researchers note that despite these new images, they still do not explain the bright spots on the dwarf planet, clearly visible in one of the craters on the image to the right.

Much further out in the solar system, the New Horizons probe also provides us with more photos of the outer solar system. Photos of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, which, among other things, reveal large gorges that are twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

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